The invention is directed to a system for equipping component carriers with electrical components, whereby the system comprises a transport path and at least two equipping locations for the component carriers.
It is generally standard to link a plurality of automatic equipping units having a respective equipping location on the base of a transport path proceeding on a straight line. As a result thereof, it is possible to keep a broad spectrum of different components on hand that are distributed onto the various automatic equipping units. As a result thereof, first assemblies that require a great variety of different components can be completely equipped without delivery modules for the components having to be changed for this purpose. For narrow component carriers, the automatic equipping unit can comprise two transport paths lying in close proximity next to one another with correspondingly two narrow equipping locations lying next to one another on which equipping can be continuously carried out in alternating fashion.
On the other hand, however, it is also possible to equip a plurality of different assemblies having small lot sizes with little refitting expense. However, it can thereby occur that assemblies having a low number of components need only pass through one or a few automatic units in order to be able to be completely equipped. Since these assemblies also pass through the equipping locations that are not required in an approximate clocking, the full scope of their capacity cannot be used.
In standard automatic equipping units, the transport path and the equipping locations overlap. In an automatic equipping unit, it is standard to form the transport path of three sub-transports uncoupled from one another. The equipping location is largely congruent with the middle sub-transport, this being stopped during equipping, whereas, for example, the preceding sub-transport brings the next printed circuit board. Only a simple, linear feed motion is required in order to center the printed circuit board to be equipped in the equipping area.
It is generally standard in assembly technology to conduct transport paths past the work stations and to transfer the workpieces to be processed in at these locations and then out in order to be able to selectively supply the workpieces to the work stations, as a result whereof, however, the time expenditure for the change events is increased.
Such a system has been disclosed, for example, by JP 4 176528 A, in accordance wherewith component carriers are equipped with electrical components with automatic equipping units following one another in a line. The line is subdivided into a plurality of sub-sections each having an equipping path and at least one bypass conveying path that is conducted laterally past the automatic equipping unit. Identical work steps are carried out within the individual equipping paths. Transversely displaceable handover devices that shift the component carriers between the transport paths and equipping paths are arranged between the sub-sections. The individual conveyor belts have detectors allocated to them that control the transport of the component carriers such that these are respectively transferred into a free equipping path. As a result thereof, it is possible to keep continuously operating the system even given the temporary outage of an automatic equipping unit.
In standard automatic equipping units, the transport path and the equipping locations overlap. In an automatic equipping unit, it is standard to form the transport path of three sub-transports uncoupled from one another. The equipping location is largely congruent with the middle sub-transport, this being stopped during equipping, whereas, for example, the preceding sub-transport brings the next printed circuit board. Only a simple, linear feed motion is required in order to center the printed circuit board to be equipped in the equipping area.